


Calamity

by whisperedmemories



Series: In Death, Uneternal [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Character Death, Niflheim (Final Fantasy XV), POV Aranea Highwind, The Magitek Troopers Are Just Robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-22 19:37:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19982539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whisperedmemories/pseuds/whisperedmemories
Summary: Within the secluded walls of Gralea, Niflheim researches a way to bring dead soldiers back to life. Aranea never expected that it would go this far.Prequel to "In Death, Uneternal".





	Calamity

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little insight into how the virus came to be!

Heels clicking loudly against the ground, Aranea stepped into the laboratory. “None of it seems to be working,” she sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. “It’s just not the same. With those robotic soldiers you all are so fond of, it’s just a matter of replacing damaged pieces and jump-starting them with a little manipulation of their cores. With humans, we’re… well, we’re _reviving_ them. It’s fundamentally different. I don't see why we don’t just quit testing on these people and just work with the machines.”

Ardyn nodded, as if he was even considering what she was saying, and then stood from his seat in the lab to come stand beside her. “With all due respect, Commodore, you work for me. I see value in continuing to research this.”

Aranea eyed the other scientists in the room, but none of them would even turn to acknowledge her. She sighed, flipping to the report she had just been working on. “We’re wasting our time here, Chancellor. This isn’t right. We shouldn’t be playing around with this stuff, trying to bring soldiers back from the dead. You already have your infantry, isn’t that enough?”

“Just think about it, Commodore. After all, seeing as you love humans so much, how invaluable would it be if we succeeded? All of our human soldiers would have at _least_ two lives, maybe more. Lucis wouldn’t know what hit them. And,” Izunia continued, placing a hand on Aranea’s shoulder. She shrugged it off. “The virus wouldn’t even take effect until after the soldiers died. They could live a completely normal life, and then when they fall, they can live again. Soldiers killed in battle will be able to simply get up and return home to their loved ones. I’d have thought you’d be fully on board.” 

“I still don’t see why you can’t be content with your robots.” Aranea glanced at the door she had just entered through, the image of the soldier they had just killed to test the virus burned into her mind. 

“Because our _robots_ still only have one life. Of course their strength is far superior to humans, but once they’re down, they’re down. Destroyed. Unless we ship them back to Gralea and waste precious resources to repair damaged parts. How shocking would it be to kill someone only to have them rise again and stab you the minute you turn your back?” 

“Pretty damn shocking.” Aranea replied, pleased with how much irritation she was able to muster in just those few words. 

Ardyn, however, didn’t seem to appreciate the sarcasm. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he swept off his hat in some grand gesture to sway her. “I could really use your cooperation. There’s a reason we’ve allowed you to stick around when so many others have gone, Commodore Highwind. Your skills exceed expectations. We’d be hard-pressed to find a replacement of your caliber.”

His appeal fell flat. She knew just as well as everyone else did that the others hadn’t “gone”. They’d known too much; Niflheim wouldn’t have just let them leave. They’d been killed in order to make room for Niflheim’s new army. 

But just as Ardyn couldn’t convince her that trying to inject something into soldiers’ bloodstreams so that would revive certain organs when they shut down was morally acceptable, it seemed as though _she_ would not be able to convince Ardyn that this “vaccine”— as they were improperly calling it— was not a good idea. 

She wasn’t even really sure what he hoped to gain from it. The results were still highly variable, and theoretically, it could take anywhere from several minutes to even a day for the dead soldiers to come back to life. That had to leave some kind of emotional impact— They couldn’t just go back to their normal lives. Undying would leave a man changed. Not to mention they were still working out the kinks of the vaccine itself. It had yet to actually _work_ on any of the humans they experimented on. 

Izunia claimed these test subjects had willingly signed themselves up to be the guinea pigs, but Aranea’s suspicions were high on how true that actually was. The frightened way their subjects questioned Aranea’s and her coworkers’ every move, the way their eyes darted between equipment… they didn’t seem like willing volunteers to her. Or if they _were_ , there had to have been some serious blackmailing or manipulation involved. Or both. Aranea knew what the chancellor was capable of, it was part of the reason she hadn’t split yet herself. 

But no one ever asked her what she thought of all this. And Izunia made it clear that her opinion was not welcome unless it furthered his little experiment. 

“Commodore? You’ve been awfully quiet.” 

Shit. Right. Ardyn was standing right in front of her, drawing her out of her thoughts with a knowing smirk. 

“It appears we have come to an agreement?” Ardyn prompted, “you continue to test on our loyal subjects, and we guarantee a win for Niflheim. And do hurry, there’s not too much time until the big reveal.”

At this, Aranea’s brow furrowed. _Big reveal?_ “You never said anything about a deadline,” she snapped. “These kinds of things take time, y’know.”

“There is to be a signing. Of a false peace treaty that we have offered to King Regis. I have plans to plant a seed in the king’s head at his annual gala, and of course with Lady Lunafreya in attendance, poor king Regis will not suspect a thing. Shortly thereafter, I will arrange a meeting, convince him to accept the treaty, and then unleash my soldiers upon him at the signing, securing a win for our empire.”

“Sounds like some plan.” Despite her flippant response, Aranea felt her blood run cold as she listened to Ardyn’s scheme. She had heard rumours of a peace treaty, but she never thought it was true, let alone just a ruse to kill the king. 

The chancellor seemed to pick up on her hesitation, lips turning down at the corners. “I expect your cooperation, Commodore Highwind. We wouldn’t want to run into any trouble now, would we? I suggest you get back to work. Another subject will be in shortly. You might want to succeed with this one.” 

It took all of Aranea’s self-control not to sneer as she strode past him, coming to stand beside two of the scientists she was overseeing to work out this vaccine, or whatever the hell Chancellor Izunia was calling it these days. “How’s it coming?” She asked. 

One of the scientists, a brunette woman with glasses— Aranea had overheard her being called Carla— turned to her when she approached. Aranea hadn’t yet gotten the name of the other scientist, and at this point it was too late to ask, so she just tightened her lips in a grimace that she hoped resembled a smile and put a hand on her hip. 

Carla hurriedly handed her a piece of paper. “We have conducted further research from the results of our last experiment.” Her voice was breathy, as if her nerves had gotten the better of her. “We believe that if we modify our ingredients just slightly, and induce the ‘mortui viventes’ as a vaccine into the bloodstream, it will act efficiently to revive the organs that have shut down in death, effectively allowing the fallen to return to the living.”

“You say that every time,” Aranea sighed. “It never changes a damn thing. They never come back. That’s not how humans work.”

“We know that,” the other scientist jumped in. This one was older, with salt-and-pepper hair cropped short. He had an authoritative tone in his voice that Aranea definitely did not have time for. “But we are sure that these are the proportions that will finally work. We’ve cracked the code this time, Commodore.”

Aranea studied the paper. “I sure hope you’re right.”

“I suggest you get a move on! Your subject awaits!” Called Chancellor Izunia from behind Aranea. 

She rolled her eyes and handed the paper back to Salt-And-Pepper. “Guess we’ll find out if your ‘code’ is worth anything. You two are coming with me.” She jerked her thumb toward the door. “Hurry up. And bring your vaccine.”

Carla scrambled to her feet, grabbing a vial and syringe from off her desk, while Salt-and-Pepper folded the paper and put it in his pocket. 

Turning on her heels, Aranea made her way back out of the lab, reports from her conversation with the chancellor tucked under her arm. “Send Loqi down,” she snapped at Ardyn on her way out. 

By way of response, Izunia tipped his hat to her. 

Gods, she hated him. 

The operating table was a sight she wasn’t ready to see so soon again after the last failure. It was a new room this time, and she shuddered to think that it was probably because they were still cleaning up the viscera in the usual room after their latest failed trial. 

“Why did I agree to this?” Aranea mumbled under her breath as she set the reports down on the desk beside the operating table. The room was white, they all were, but it was one of those sickening whites, the kind that felt huge and vaguely threatening. She supposed it was all part of the design, meant to intimidate the subjects.

Carla and the male scientist entered the room after Aranea, hurrying over to the desk to fill the syringe with the liquid in the vial.

And then Loqi entered with the test subject in tow, and Aranea narrowed her eyes. It was a kid. A _kid._ He couldn’t have been much older than seventeen or eighteen, and Aranea was sure that Ardyn would tell her he was old enough to agree to this, but she couldn’t help but wonder what made him do so. Had his family been threatened? Siblings? There was no way this kid would just up and risk his life like this. 

She must have been gaping at him, because heat rose to the boy’s cheeks and he extended a hand. 

“I don’t want to know your name,” Aranea cut in, before he could introduce himself. “I’m sorry, I just… it’s not part of the job to know people’s names.” A bold-faced lie, but she knew it would be easier on both of them if they skipped the introductions. “Listen, kid. I just wanna know one thing. Are you… okay with this? You know the risks?”

Loqi locked the door with a quiet click.

The boy chewed his lip. Nodded. “I do, m’am,” he replied. “The brigadier general briefed me on it. I’m a test subject for a revolutionary change that will secure a win for our troops. I am willing to do whatever it takes for the empire to succeed.”

“Even at the cost of your life?” Aranea lurched forward, grabbing the boy by the collar of his shirt. “Did Loqi tell you _that_?”

“Enough, Highwind,” Loqi shoved her away from the boy, putting himself in between the two of them. “He knows the risks. He is willing to risk it. Do your job and get him prepared for the vaccine.”

Aranea gritted her teeth and stepped over to the table, gesturing for the boy to lay down. “As you know, then, we have been working to create a vaccine called ‘mortui viventes’. This vaccine is only supposed to take effect on the deceased, and is intended to jump-start the organs and return the subject to full health. Our success in developing this vaccine is an invaluable asset to the Niflheim army, and with it, we can almost guarantee our success.” Her words felt stale, insincere, and all too easy tumbling from her lips. She didn’t even have to think about what she was saying anymore, it was a speech she had given many times, to many different test subjects. 

And when they died, she had to brush herself off and do it again. 

The boy didn’t seem to pick up on her hesitations. Instead, he was nodding eagerly as he lay back upon the table, eyes bright and hopeful, even as Aranea clasped a chain around his ankle and fastened it to the bed, explaining to him that this was only so he didn’t struggle, and that they’d unchain him after administering the vaccine. 

“So I’ll be the key to winning the war?” The boy asked, seemingly undeterred by the chain. 

Aranea opened her mouth to answer, but then Carla said, “It’s time,” and stepped forward. “Are you ready?” She asked the boy. When he nodded, she gestured for him to hold out his arm. “It’ll only hurt for a second."

Aranea looked away. It was this next part that always made its way into her dreams, over and over until she woke up in a cold sweat.

“Okay.” Carla stepped back, and a loud - _BANG-_ reverberated around the room.

The boy craned his neck, eyes wide with shock as he looked upon the bud of red blossoming on his shirt. “Wh—I…” he stammered. 

“I shot you,” Loqi said, matter-of-factly. Just hearing him say it like that sent chills down Aranea’s spine. “And within moments, you’ll be dead. We had to do it. It’s part of the test for the vaccine. As Commodore Highwind explained, the subject needs to be deceased before we can determine whether or not it has worked. Fear not, you’ll only be gone for a short while.”

“Anywhere from seconds to days,” Aranea corrected him. “But it will all feel the same to you. When you wake up, it will seem as though no time has passed at all.”

She couldn’t watch as the panicked boy’s life faded from his eyes. But she had seen it happen to so many others that she could still picture it. The boy jerked, spasmed within his constraints, and then went still. 

Aranea took a deep breath and unclasped the shackle around his ankle. 

Salt-and-Pepper started his stopwatch. Each tick grated on Aranea’s nerves. “Three minutes,” said Salt-and-Pepper. 

Aranea frowned. “This isn’t working,” she snapped. “He’s still dead, like all the others.” She stepped toward the door, but Carla blocked her. 

“You said it yourself Commodore, it could take a while.” Gently, Carla pushed her back toward the table. “Please, we plan to stay here for at least ten minutes, and then have our team check on him in shifts for the next couple of days.”

“For the next couple of…” Aranea repeated, shaking her head. “This is ridiculous. We tested your vaccine on someone else just this morning. We counted that a failure. Why didn’t we wait days before we called it?”

“We caught a mistake in the serum just minutes before we administered it,” Salt-and-Pepper said. “We knew that was a failure before we even started, but we had to continue anyway.”

Aranea felt the color drain from her face. “You’re sick.” If she had known that their last subject had been doomed to fail before they even began, she would have never gone through with it. The other scientists had to have known that, which is why they hadn’t told her.

She narrowed her eyes at Carla and was pleased to see the younger woman shrink back just a bit under her gaze. She still did have her reputation going for her, then. “Move aside,” she snapped.

Carla complied, but Loqi still stood blocking the door, a smirk on his face as he sized Aranea up and down. 

“Get out of my way, Loqi,” she snarled. 

“I don’t answer to you,” Loqi tilted his chin up, “I answer to High Commander Ravus. What we’re doing here is groundbreaking. I suggest you stay and watch.”

“It isn’t groundbreaking, it’s disgusting.” Aranea gestured to the body on the table. “You’re manipulating young soldiers into thinking they’re doing a good deed for—” she paused, the rest of her tirade caught in her throat. 

The body on the table had turned his head to look at Aranea. He blinked. 

“It worked!” Carla breathed. 

Aranea refused to look at Loqi as she strode back over to the table. “Welcome back,” she breathed. “How are you feeling? Can you… sit up?”

The boy continued to stare, as if he hadn’t even heard her. But slowly, he brought himself up to a sitting position. Still, there was something about the way he was staring at her that put Aranea on edge. 

“What you’ve done has just won us the war,” Carla told him. She snatched her papers off her desk and began to frantically scribble notes down. “Now. Can you tell me what you’re feeling? Does anything hurt? I’ve clocked the reboot to have taken five minutes and fifteen seconds. We will have to do a full scan to make sure you are in fit physical condition.” She continued to rattle off a list of things they would have to do to guarantee their success.

The boy still held Aranea’s gaze, and didn’t even appear to acknowledge Carla. Aranea took a hesitant step toward Loqi, and the boy craned his neck to follow her movements. 

“Loqi,” Aranea started. “There’s something wrong. Watch,” she lifted her arm, and the boy’s head tilted to follow it. “He’s… tracking me.”

“Nonsense.” Even as he said the words, Loqi sounded hesitant. “He’s just readjusting. His body is probably still repairing itself. Carla. Check the boy.”

“Hm?” Carla glanced up, dropping the paper she was holding and letting it flutter back against the clipboard. “I suppose I’ll try and run a few quick preliminary physical tests.” She set the clipboard down and picked up a stethoscope and a few other tools that Aranea hadn’t ever bothered to familiarize herself with.

It was the movement that seemed to trigger the boy. Carla moved to approach him and he lunged forward, flying off the table and tearing her throat out in one swift movement.

Carla dropped to the ground and the creature reeled around to grab hold of Salt-and-Pepper, who scrambled for a syringe and tried to plunge it into the boy’s shoulder. The boy stumbled, but didn’t loosen his grip as he bit down on Salt-and-Pepper’s arm. 

Loqi breathed out a curse as he turned toward the door, fumbling for the key on his belt loop as the boy shoved the older scientist away and made his way toward Loqi and Aranea.

Carla definitely looked dead, so Aranea hurried over to Salt-and-Pepper, putting a hand on his back. “We’ll need to get you out of here and have that looked at,” she said. “It doesn’t look good.” 

But instead of responding, Salt-and-Pepper shoved her away with a growl and made toward the boy. “You’re out of your damn mind!” He snarled at the boy.

For all the yelling he was doing, it was as though the boy didn’t even acknowledge him, grabbing instead for Loqi and pulling him away from the door, sinking his teeth into Loqi’s shoulder.

It was all happening so fast. Aranea didn’t have a moment to think before she pulled her own gun from her back pocket and shot the boy through the head, her gun clattering to the ground the moment the boy dropped. 

“Fuck,” Aranea breathed. The room fell silent. She let out a shaky breath and locked eyes with Loqi. “Get that door open.” 

Loqi inserted the key and shoved the door open. “Well…” he began. The door slammed loudly against the wall, the sound echoing through the corridor. “… We’ll have to report this as a success.”

“It wasn’t a success!” Aranea snapped at him. She snatched her gun off the ground and pulled Salt-and-Pepper to his feet. “Carla is dead, the boy is dead, and both of you are…” she gave them both a once-over. “Compromised. We need to have your wounds looked at immediately.” 

“It’s just a scratch,” Loqi said, but when he reached up to touch his shoulder and his hand came back covered in blood, he gritted his teeth. “Maybe bandaging this up would be beneficial.” 

“For both of you,” Aranea agreed. 

Salt-and-Pepper fixed the collar on his coat, assessing the damage. “I’ll have someone in here to come clean this up. We must report to the chancellor and high commander.” 

Clean this up? Aranea glanced back over at her shoulder as she crossed the room toward the exit. This wasn’t some spill on aisle three they could just wipe up and be done with. These were _people_. 

_But you knew they were testing on people to begin with._

This was… different, though. Seeing the boy on the floor as one of the casualties. Having to _shoot_ him. A _kid._ No matter how violently he had attacked her team. Two people were dead and one of those deaths was by her own hand. 

She’d had enough. This wasn’t right; it never was. They were in way over their heads. 


End file.
